Centrifugal Clothes Hangers
Fun with old wire hangers is never ending, which is in even better excuse to replace your childrens hangers. Cleaning out one person's closet can provide wire craft supplies for an entire class, some silly crafts and some educational. Wire hangers are excellent for learning about the scientific principles of centrifugal force and centripetal force, or, the laws of circular motion. That is, those forces acting on a mass that is in a circular arc or rotation. The concept of these forces is not easily grasped without some sort of demonstration, but a simple clothes hanger, along with a coin will do the trick, and this experiment is a blast for the kids.
Once you have collect enough coat hangers for each child, instruct them to bend the triangle portion of the hanger into a square. A great way to describe this is to have the children imagine the hanger is a bow with an imaginary arrow. If they hold the point of the triangle, which has the hook, in front of them and pull the middle of the long side if the triangle back, like the string of a bow, this will create the fourth point of the square. Once they have done this, they should lay the hanger flat and make sure it is now in the shape of a square.
The next step can also be completed before the project begins. The tip of the hook should be filed flat. Some hook tips may already be flattened, but others are cut unevenly or might even be sharp. Once the hanger is bent and the end of the wire is flattened, the fun begins. Show the participants how to hold up the hanger using one finger at the corner, which is opposite the hanger hook, and then take the penny, or other coin, and balance it on top of the hook point. If you are skilled and careful enough, you may then begin to spin the hanger on one finger, and the coin will stay balanced on the hook. It can even become a competition to see who can spin the hanger the most number of times without loosing the penny or even spin the hanger with the most number of balanced pennies.
The penny is held in place by the laws of circular motion. A centripetal force directs the penny toward the center of the rotation, and the object is met by an equal centrifugal force that is directed outward from the center, pushing the coin back onto the hook. Make sure that the point of the hook points back to your finger and that the hanger is flat, and this a great way to learn something about circular motion. Actually feeling these forces in their own hands will make so much more sense than a verbal explanation, and it is possible with the use of a recycled wire hanger.
About the Author: Ron Maier is the owner of Only Kids Hangers, a leading provider of baby clothes hangers and childrens hangers. The right childrens clothes hangers really make the difference in kid's retail. For more information, please visit http://www.onlykidshangers.com.
Once you have collect enough coat hangers for each child, instruct them to bend the triangle portion of the hanger into a square. A great way to describe this is to have the children imagine the hanger is a bow with an imaginary arrow. If they hold the point of the triangle, which has the hook, in front of them and pull the middle of the long side if the triangle back, like the string of a bow, this will create the fourth point of the square. Once they have done this, they should lay the hanger flat and make sure it is now in the shape of a square.
The next step can also be completed before the project begins. The tip of the hook should be filed flat. Some hook tips may already be flattened, but others are cut unevenly or might even be sharp. Once the hanger is bent and the end of the wire is flattened, the fun begins. Show the participants how to hold up the hanger using one finger at the corner, which is opposite the hanger hook, and then take the penny, or other coin, and balance it on top of the hook point. If you are skilled and careful enough, you may then begin to spin the hanger on one finger, and the coin will stay balanced on the hook. It can even become a competition to see who can spin the hanger the most number of times without loosing the penny or even spin the hanger with the most number of balanced pennies.
The penny is held in place by the laws of circular motion. A centripetal force directs the penny toward the center of the rotation, and the object is met by an equal centrifugal force that is directed outward from the center, pushing the coin back onto the hook. Make sure that the point of the hook points back to your finger and that the hanger is flat, and this a great way to learn something about circular motion. Actually feeling these forces in their own hands will make so much more sense than a verbal explanation, and it is possible with the use of a recycled wire hanger.
About the Author: Ron Maier is the owner of Only Kids Hangers, a leading provider of baby clothes hangers and childrens hangers. The right childrens clothes hangers really make the difference in kid's retail. For more information, please visit http://www.onlykidshangers.com.
Labels: kids hangers
posted by Only Hangers at 2:08 PM
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